


Still the Same

by catastrophicmeltdown



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Permanent Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-02
Updated: 2012-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 13:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/419328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catastrophicmeltdown/pseuds/catastrophicmeltdown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Germany finally comes home after the war. But he's a little... different than what Italy remembers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still the Same

Italy sighed as he bounced around the house, hair pulled back under a bandana as he dusted. He needed to work off his nervous energy, and cleaning had always calmed him down.

The war was over, the dust had settled, and he would finally see Ludwig again.

He'd gotten a letter, just this morning, saying that his boss was finally letting him visit. As soon as he'd worked his way through enough paperwork to justify visiting to himself, Ludwig would be on his way to Italy. He would be arriving sometime today or tomorrow, and Italy could barely contain himself.

It had been far too long since he'd been in Ludwig's arms. Letters just weren't the same after you'd had them right next to you for years.

Far too soon, the house was spotless, and Italy sprawled out on the couch at a loss for what to do next. It was too early to cook, but in his cleaning frenzy he'd missed his designated siesta time. He rolled around on the couch, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep anyway. Eventually he gave up on that idea, just laying on his back and focusing on his breathing instead.

He soon fell asleep.

* * *

Germany switched his bag to the other shoulder. It was putting too much pressure on his leg, and it was starting to hurt.

He huffed and continued up the hill. Occasionally he passed a house, but this far out of town there weren't that many people. He passed a clump of trees, and finally caught sight of the familiar house set at the top of the gently sloping hill. Ludwig smiled and picked up his pace, eager to see his lover after all this time. 

He soon reached the door, and knocked loudly. Italy woke at the loud noise, rubbing his eyes as he got off the couch. He quickly opened the door.

"Ciao, how – Ludwig!"

He jumped forward and hugged him, nearly sending them both to the ground with its force. Germany managed to balance himself in time, hugging him back just as tightly.

"I missed you so much, Ludwig."

He buried his face in Feliciano's hair. "I missed you too, Feli."

Italy pulled back enough to reach up and kiss Ludwig gently, reveling in the feeling of having those lips against his outside of a dream. Eventually they had to pull away, and for a few long minutes they just held each other in the late afternoon sun.

After a while they pulled apart, and Italy took Germany's hand as he led him inside and shut the door. He gave the blond a gentle push toward the stairs. "Go to the bedroom and put your stuff down. I'll get started on dinner," he said. He glanced out of the window as he walked into the kitchen. "Ve, I hope it will be done before it gets too late."

Germany turned and put his stuff in the room before going down to the kitchen. Feliciano was humming to himself as the water came to a boil. He quietly came up next to him, touching him on the shoulder as he said, "I pu –"

Feliciano jumped, accidentally elbowing Ludwig in the solar plexus. The German yelped and jumped back, knocking down the pot of water. Feliciano pulled Ludwig away, but the boiling water still splashed all over his left leg.

"Oh, Dio! I'm so sorry, Ludwig! Quick, get your pants off before you burn!"

Feliciano reached for his belt, intending to just rip the pants off, but Ludwig stopped him by grabbing his hands. "It's fine, Feli. I won't burn."

"What do you mean you won't burn? I dropped boiling water on myself once and it went right through my pants! It hurt terribly, and Romano had to take care of me."

"Feliciano, I'll be fine. There's nothing there to burn."

Italy looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Germany let go of his hands and pulled up his pant leg, and Feliciano gasped. It was a prosthetic.

"L-Ludwig, what happened?"

He let go of his pants, covering the prosthetic again. Italy kept his eyes locked on Ludwig's face, even though he was tempted to continue staring at his leg.

"I don't really know. All I remember is an explosion and suddenly there was a car on top of me, crushing my leg. I passed out from shock and blood loss, and when I woke up the surgeon told me what had happened... what they'd had to do." 

"But, I thought..." Italy trailed off.

Ludwig shrugged. "There are some things being a nation can't heal. I was lucky to escape with my life." He tipped Italy's head back and looked him in the eyes. "A limb is a small price to pay."

Italy bit his lip and nodded. But Ludwig could still see the doubt on his face. He squeezed Italy's hand, trying to convey the truth of his words.

"Feliciano, I'm not going to let this change me. So my leg isn't really there anymore, that doesn't matter. I'm still me, just with a different set of equipment."

Feliciano worried his lip. Honestly, he believed Ludwig's words. He was strong, and wouldn't let something like this utterly define him.

He just worried about whether others would see him that way.

He shrugged off his concerns for now, pushing Ludwig out the door. "Let me clean up this mess and then we can go to bed. I obviously shouldn't be cooking right now."

Ludwig turned around. "I could cook –"

"No!" Feliciano exclaimed, looking scandalized. "You are a guest. I cook for _you_."

"But –"

"No buts," Feliciano said, shooing him out of the kitchen. "I'll be upstairs in a minute. I just need to clean up the water. And no, you're not helping with that either. Just go upstairs and relax, Ludwig."

Ludwig sighed but obeyed, turning and heading back upstairs. He went into the room and quickly changed into his usual boxers and tank. He sat on the bed and pulled off his prosthesis, carefully putting it aside. He heard Feliciano's footsteps and looked up just as he walked in the room.

Feliciano stopped at the door, staring at the place where Ludwig's leg abruptly cut off. It was one thing to see the prosthetic, but an entirely different one to see empty air where there should have been _something_.

Ludwig saw Italy's stare and instinctively tried to pull his leg in before catching himself. He defiantly straightened himself out. "I'm... sorry if it bothers you," he said, a hint of wariness in his voice. He had hoped that Italy, at least, wouldn't think differently if he saw him as he was.

Italy's eyes widened as he shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. It just surprised me a bit, is all. It's so... different."

He starting stripping for bed, slower than usual with the thoughts flying around his head. One in particular kept bothering him. He didn't look at Ludwig as he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Ludwig scooted over to make room for him as he answered, "I didn't think a letter was the right way. I felt like this was something better said face-to-face."

Feliciano's lips twitched. "I'm glad you did. I can see for myself that you're fine instead of worrying about whether you actually were or if you were lying to me."

Feliciano climbed into his usual place beside Ludwig, snuggling into his side. He moved to tangle his legs with Germany's, but abruptly cut himself off when he only found one. Germany realized what happened and tensed up.

"Feliciano, I can move away if it bothers you that much. It's – it's not a big deal."

"No, please, don't. It's different, but I don't care. It's still _you_."

Feliciano moved down until his face was level with his leg, and he lightly ran a hand over it. He placed a few gentle kisses on it as he kept his eyes locked on Ludwig's. His stump was still a little numb and tender from its time in the prosthetic, but goosebumps still ran up his spine from Feliciano's attention.

"You may be missing a part or two, but you're still my Ludwig."

Feliciano smiled and gently kissed his leg one last time before crawling up and burrowing into Ludwig's chest. Ludwig wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Thank you."

It was silent for a few minutes, before Feliciano sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Ludwig pulled away slightly to look him in the eyes. "I never want to hear you say that. You made the right choice for your country, and if you _had_ been there I would have gone mad with worry over you. I'm not sorry about it, and you shouldn't be either."

Feliciano felt some of the weight lift from his shoulders. "Do the others know?"

Ludwig shook his head. "No. They haven't seen me since before the accident. I was feverish when they were negotiating, and they were kind enough to leave me out of it. I would have been useless, anyway."

"Do you want them to know?" Feliciano asked as his eyes grew heavy.

"I think I'll let them figure it out on their own," Ludwig answered.

Feliciano hummed in agreement before letting sleep overcome him. Ludwig smiled and kissed his forehead before following him into sleep.

* * *

Ludwig stretched and sat up in bed. He could hear clangs coming from the kitchen, and the smell wafting through the house told him that Feli was already up and cooking. He smiled and rolled out of bed, hastily putting on his leg before going downstairs.

Feli was bustling around the kitchen, pausing to quickly kiss him on the cheek before pulling out some plates and putting the food on them. He put the plates on the table and the dirty cookware in the sink before sitting down. Ludwig was sorely tempted to get up and wash the cookware, but he decided it could wait until they'd eaten.

He dug into the food, savoring every bite. He'd always loved Feliciano's cooking. The Italian smiled at him before eating his own meal.

Occasional twinges ran up Ludwig's leg, and he shifted, trying to get a little more comfortable. It didn't work and he reached down, massaging his leg a little to make them stop. Feliciano noticed and frowned at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. My leg is just bothering me a bit."

Italy leaned around the table, taking a good look at the leg. "It's on crooked," he said. He knelt down and pushed it slightly until it was perfectly in place, checking the tightness before standing back up.

"Thanks," Ludwig said.

Feliciano smiled brightly at him. "Don't worry about it and finish your food. We don't waste good food in my house!"

Ludwig looked down at his plate and finished off the last few bites, chuckling. "Never change, Feliciano."

Feliciano giggled before slurping up the last of his pasta.


End file.
